Market Basket Prices Show Highest Increase, Survey Finds
BOSTON (CBS) -- One year after a family feud left store shelves empty, a new survey finds that some Market Basket prices have risen more over the past year than at other grocery stores.
ConsumerWorld.org, a Boston-based consumer guide, conducted a survey in August of about two dozen items commonly found at supermarkets. The results showed that Market Basket's prices on surveyed items have gone up 9 percent since last summer, which is a steeper hike than Star Market, Stop & Shop, Price Rite, Aldi and Save-A-Lot.
"While Market Basket is perceived by many to be the lowest-priced supermarket, smaller limited assortment stores have even lower prices, but they have yet to be discovered by most shoppers," Consumer World founder Edgar Dworsky said.
For all of 2014, Market Basket offered a 4 percent discount on everything in the store. That discount was eliminated at the beginning of this year, a move that Consumer World says played a big role in the survey results.
Consumer World notes that higher beef and egg prices have resulted in price increases for Market Basket and all other chains surveyed.
Market Basket disputes the survey.
A spokesperson told WBZ-TV the sampling of products is too small to give an accurate picture and it doesn't make sense to compare major supermarkets to discounters with fewer products.
Listen To An Interview With The Consumer World Founder: